How to set a photo to contact Xiaomi Poco M3 Pro: all ways + problem solving

Why can’t the Poco M3 Pro add a photo to the contact?

You're trying to personalize your contact on your Xiaomi Poco M3 Pro phone, but the system stubbornly ignores your attempts to add a photo? Or is the picture only displayed in some apps and disappears in calls? The problem is familiar to many owners of smartphones on MIUI, and the reason lies in the peculiarities of synchronizing contacts.

In this article, we'll look at all the working ways to connect photos, from the standard method through the Contacts app to the Google Account and third-party workarounds, and why photos sometimes fly off after a MIUI update and how to fix it. If you've tried adding an image before, but failed, don't close the page: at the end, there's a section with common bugs and their solutions.

Note right away: the Poco M3 Pro runs on MIUI 12.5/13 (depending on the firmware version), and the algorithm for adding photos may differ from the “pure” Android. For example, there is no separate “Add a photo” button in the contact card, it is replaced by a camera icon.

Method 1: Add a photo through the standard Contacts app

The most obvious method is to use Xiaomi's built-in Contacts app. It works on all versions of MIUI, but there are nuances with synchronization.

1. Open the Contacts app (an icon with a person’s silhouette on the home screen or in the app menu).
2. Find the contact you need in the list and tap it to open the card.
3. In the upper right corner, click on the camera icon (or pencil for editing).
4. Select Change Photos → Take a Picture (if you want to take a picture right now) or Select from the Gallery.
5. After selecting a photo, cut it in a circle (the system will prompt you to do this automatically) and save the changes.

Important: If a contact is synced to a Google Account, the photo may not be saved locally, and to avoid this, turn off sync in the contact settings before editing (more on this in the next section).

If the photo doesn’t show up in calls or messages after saving it, try restarting your phone — sometimes MIUI caches old data, and check if you have a third-party call app (like Truecaller) that can block the photos from being displayed.

Method 2: Google Contacts (if no photo is saved)

If the standard method didn’t work, try adding a photo through Google Contacts, which ensures that the image is available on all devices where you use the same account.

1. Open your browser on your phone or computer and go to contacts.google.com.
2. Sign in with the same account that is linked to your Poco M3 Pro.
3. Find the contact you need in the list and click on it.
4. Click on the camera icon in the contact card (or drag the photo directly into the avatar field).
5. Cut the image (you can use not only a circle, but also a square) and save the changes.

Then force the contacts on the phone to sync:

• 📱 Go to Settings. → Accounts and synchronization → Google.
• 🔄 Tap on your account and turn on the Contacts slider (if it is turned off).
• 🗂️ Click Sync Now (or Update depending on version) MIUI).

If the photo never appears on the phone after syncing, check if it conflicts with the local copy of the contact, in which case, remove the contact from the phone and leave only the version from Google - this will help avoid duplication.

Method 3: Use of third-party applications (Truecaller, Sync.ME)

If the built-in techniques don't work, third-party apps will come to the rescue, not only allowing you to add photos to your contacts, but also automatically pulling up avatars from social networks.

Truecaller

The app is known as a number detector, but it also has a contact editing function:

• 📲 Install Truecaller from Google Play.
• 🔍 Find the right contact in the application and open its card.
• 🖼️ Slip on the camera icon next to the name and select a photo from the gallery.
• 💾 Save the changes – the photo will appear in the standard Contacts app.

Sync.ME

This app specializes in synchronizing contacts with social networks (Facebook, VK, Instagram):

• 📥 Download Sync.ME from Google Play.
• 🔗 Connect social media accounts in the application settings.
• 🔄 Start sync – photos from profiles will automatically reach the contacts.

⚠️ Attention: Third-party apps require access to your contacts, messages and storage. Check other users' permissions and reviews before installing.

💡

If you use WhatsApp, the contact photo may be different from the one in the phone book. To sync them, open a chat with the contact on WhatsApp, tap on his name at the top and select "Change" → add a photo here.

Why is the contact photo not displayed in the calls?

A common problem: the photo is on the contact card, but when the call comes in, it only shows the name.

Another possible reason is the battery optimization in MIUI, which blocks background synchronization, to fix this:

1. Go to Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Consumption Management by Apps.
2. Find contact and Google contact list.
3. Choose a mode for them without restrictions.

How to cut a photo for contact without loss of quality?

MIUI automatically trims photos into a round shape, which is not always convenient - especially if you want to keep important details (like the company logo on the avatar).

• 🖼️ Prepare the photo in advance: cut it in a square format (for example, cut it in a square format, 512×512 pixels) using Google Photos or PicsArt.
• 🎨 Use a transparent background: if you want to save the logo, make the background transparent (.png format) – so the system will not cut the edges.
• 📱 Turn off automatic trimming: in some versions MIUI You can hold your finger in the photo when choosing to cancel the round mask.

If you want the photo to be displayed in full (no cropping), try the following trick:

1. Add a photo via Google Contacts (as described in Method 2).
2. When pruning, select the Square option instead of the Circle.
3. Save and wait for synchronization.

⚠️ Note: If you use the topics MIUI With custom icons, contact photos may not show correctly. In this case, return the standard theme to Settings. → Topics.

What if the photo of the contact disappeared after the phone was reset?

Once reset to factory settings or reflashed by the Poco M3 Pro, photos of contacts often “fly off.”

• 📱 Local contacts (save in the phone’s memory) are deleted irrevocably.
• ☁️ Contacts from Google Account are being restored, but photos may not be loaded due to sync error.

To recover the photo:

1. Check backup: If you’ve used Mi Cloud, go to Settings → Mi Account → Mi Cloud → Contacts and recover data.
2. Export contacts from another device: If you have an old phone, export contacts to a.vcf file (via Settings → Contacts → Import / Export) and import them to the Poco M3 Pro.
3. Restore from Google: If your contacts have been synced to Google, just wait for automatic sync or manually run it (see Method 2).

If the photos are gone forever, but you still have copies of them in messengers (for example, in Telegram or Viber), you can manually save them from the chat and re-add to the contacts.

💡

Always back up your contacts before resetting your phone! in MIUI, this can be done via Settings → System → Backup and Reset → Local Backup.

FAQ: Frequent questions about contact photos in Poco M3 Pro